Today we said our goodbyes to Aunt Ellen. Her funeral was in Carlton, MN; just under a two hour drive from home. We reminisced, we cried, we laughed, we ate, and we came together as a family.
There were no hiccups on the drive north on Interstate 35. We passed Terry driving Aunt Alma as they took an exit to the rest area. My sister drove my folks and Aunt Mary. Karen and my Pop kept texting to report on our travel progress stating we were ten miles behind them. I sure wish he had warned me of the highway patrols in the center median of I35. Thankfully, there were no speeding tickets. Though that would have added hilarity to the day in honor of Aunt Ellen. We, or I should say I, set the left lane pace with three vehicles keeping pace behind me. In the center median a few short miles south of our highway 210 exit, I noticed the familiar maroon and white patrol car facing towards the southbound lanes. Our eyes meet as we flew by him. Thats when I noted my speed set at eleven over posted.
Whats funny about this you may be thinking? Well, Aunt Ellen’s hobby was listening to the Carlton County police scanner. And about twenty years ago, I ended up being gifted a speeding ticket for ten miles per hour over the posted speed limit. As we sat there on the highway, my cousin Colleen was laughing stating, “yep, mom is listening to this right now.” Sure enough, not only did my Aunt Ellen hear of my speeding ticket adventure on the Carlton County police scanner, so did my folks and probably the rest of our relatives. Aunt Ellen no doubt had a laugh about this close call up there in heaven.
One time about the same era, Karen and I stopped in to visit Ellen and Lloyd. We knocked on their door. The TV was on, but nobody answered. Perhaps they didn’t hear our knock. We stepped in; nobody home. So we left to get something to eat at the truck stop. We met Ellen and Lloyd telling them we stopped by. Aunt Ellen said if we were hungry, we should have just taken something out of the fridge. Thats the way it was with family hospitality. Family was the center.
It was a joy to see this inflatable snowman by Aunt Ellen’s casket. You see, this snowman was set in the upper corner of our Grandparent’s farm house. Its been there since the mid 1960’s where their house was the center of the family. Everyone simply dropped in to visit. Food was somehow always involved. We all stayed at the farm house for weddings in the area. The living room floor was littered with sleeping bags where many of us cousins slept. The snowman kept us company watching over us. None of us could remember a time the snowman wasn’t there. Amazingly, it never deflated. Its still the original air Grandpa blew into it. When Grandma and Grandpa passed on, Aunt Ellen inherited the snowman keeping the tradition of a family gathering place. It was good to see my family and reminisce our shared memories.
